The Secret Garden
by anastiel
Summary: The Men of Letters Bunker has a secret garden and Cas decides to fix it up and make it beautiful.


One afternoon Dean finds out that the bunker has a secret garden.

Dean didn't even know that small little spot of land behind the bunker existed. He happens upon the area while wandering around the bunker trying to find Cas who had literally been in the kitchen like two seconds ago, but Dean turned his back and when he turned back around, Cas was gone. Dean had been trying to teach him how to make coffee. Not that Cas didn't know how to make coffee, he just didn't know how to makegood coffee. Obviously this activity wasn't very interesting to Cas who decided to leave right when Dean was about to explain the importance of an equal coffee grains to water ratio.

Dean wanders around for five minutes, checking all of Cas's usual spaces. The library, his room, the garage and he is nowhere to be found. So Dean starts trying random doors. There are a lot of rooms in the bunker that Dean hasn't explored. He wants to, there just hasn't been time with the whole angels thing. He ends up in a dark, clearly unused area of the bunker somewhere on the second floor. Most of the rooms in this hallway are locked except for one. When he turns the doorknob and opens the door, he is blinded by the glaring light of the sun.

Stepping through the doorway, he shields his eyes from the sun with his hand, blinking at the sudden brightness. Ten feet in front of him stands Cas, silhouetted by the sunlight. The other man has his eyes trained on the sun, blinking slowly at the brightness above him. Dean steps forward, coming to rest at Cas's side.

"Cas? What are you doing?" Dean asks, looking at Cas who completely disregards him and instead glances at the small garden around them. It isn'treally a garden so to speak, more like a large square of dirt filled with various sorts of rocks and sticks, walled in by seven feet tall brick walls.

Cas turns his head slowly to Dean with a dazed look on his face.

"Dean, could I possibly acquire some flower seeds?"

"Yeah, I'm sure they have some at like the grocery store or something," Dean shrugs. "Why?"

Cas bends down, sitting back on the heels of his feet and sifts his fingers through a handful of dirt.

"I'd like to have a flower garden," He says simply, before standing back up and looking at Dean expectantly.

Dean's lips twitch up into a smile, "Sure, buddy. You can turn this into a flower garden. Let's go to the store and get you some seeds."

"Right now?!"

"Right now."

It takes Cas forever to decide on what flowers he wants to plant in his garden. The aisle where the seed packets are located in the store probably has fifty different types of flowers to choose from. Cas walks up and down the aisle at least ten times, picking up different packets of seeds and carefully examining the pictures of the brightly colored flowers on the front. Dean stands off to the side just watching him with the hint of a smile on his face. The way Cas inspects the little packets with his eyes narrowed and intently reading the planting information on the back is so fucking cute, Dean almost can't stand it. Cas is picking flowers out like this is the biggest decision of his life and he can't screw it up.

After twenty minutes of very focused studying on flower types and colors, Cas returns to Dean's side with six packets of seeds in his hand.

"You find what you want?" Dean asks with a smile.

"I did. I think these will do very nicely. With enough care and sun they should grow well in the garden," Cas states seriously and Dean huffs out a laugh.

"What?" Cas asks tilting his head to the side when Dean laughs at him.

"Nothing," Dean says, wrapping an arm around Cas's shoulder as they head towards the checkout, "You're just adorable."

Cas spends the next few days out in the sun and the dirt planting his flowers. Every morning he rises early before it gets warm outside, puts on a pair of Dean's old, ripped jeans and one of Dean's t-shirts and spends the morning and afternoon removing the rocks and sticks from the rich soil. Then he begins to plant the seeds, carefully organizing the flower types so that they are evenly spread throughout the area. He takes such care with them he won't even let Dean touch the seeds.

After the second day when Cas comes to dinner, cheeks and forehead red from being out in the sun all day, Dean hands Cas a big straw hat he found in one of the bunker's store rooms. Cas smiles and thanks him, and it warms Dean's heart. It makes him happy to see Cas so invested in something that he wants to do.

The next morning Cas heads out to the garden, tools in hand and floppy straw hat on his head. He stays busy at work planting and watering the seeds until noon when Dean comes out to give him a sandwich and a glass of water. The moment Dean sees him in his getup, he has to restrain himself from walking over to Cas and kissing him in that dumb hat. He looks so god damn cute it's ridiculous. No one should look cute wearing a fucking straw hat, but Cas does.

"I brought you some grub," Dean says, holding out the sandwich and glass of water to Cas who takes it from him, taking a big gulp of water.

"Thank you, Dean. How does it look?" Cas asks, gesturing at the garden.

Dean glances around at Cas's work and is surprised at what he's managed to accomplish. Cas turned the disheveled plot of land into a neat patch of dirt; cleaned of weeds, rocks, and sticks. The dirt is lined with neat little rows damp from being watered. It looks great, especially considering Dean is one thousand percent sure Cas has never gardened before.

"It looks great, Cas! You're doing a good job," Dean says, smiling brightly at Cas who grins at him.

"I am very pleased with it so far, however it will be even more beautiful after the flowers bloom," Cas states, looking back at his work fondly.

"I'm sure it will," Dean replies, patting Cas awkwardly on the shoulder instead of leaning in and kissing him, which is what he really wants to do.

Cas stares at him in that special way of his and it makes Dean's heart leap within his chest. He coughs breaking eye contact and pats Cas again before leaving him to go back to his work.

When the flowers bloom for the first time Dean finds out the instant it happens. It's eight in the morning, way too early for Dean to be woken up by erratic pounding on the door. Dean opens the door, hair sticking up in every direction, eyes blinking lazily. Cas is standing at his door, wide awake with a grin on his face.

"Dean, the flowers opened!" Cas says ecstatically, grabbing Dean's hand and tugging him towards the garden. Dean follows him with a grunt, allowing himself to be pulled along. Cas pulls Dean down the hallway and bursts through the garden door, stopping as soon as their feet touch the moist dirt. Dean's jaw opens in awe, he's fully awake now. The garden is more beautiful than Dean could have imagined. The early morning sunrise is just coming over the horizon, dousing the small walled garden with a yellow hue. The flowers have opened, petals bright with a myriad of colors. Cas leads Dean around the garden, pointing out all the different flowers to him. The ground is covered in forget-me-nots, daisies, poppies, petunias, tulips and morning glories. Cas points out each one, explaining their meaning and why he chose to plant each one. Dean listens attentively with a happy smile on his face, watching Cas's enthusiastic face as he describes each flower, occasionally bending down and brushing his fingers almost reverently against their petals. The only thought in Dean's head is, "Wow, I love you."

Cas stops in front of a cluster of bright blue morning glories, leans down and picks one. He holds the precious flower gingerly in his fingers and wordlessly hands it to Dean. Dean takes it from him, looking at the flower in his hands, noticing that the blue of the flower is the same shade as the blue of Cas's irises. Dean grins, picking up the flower with his fingers, taking a slow step closer to Cas before placing it behind his ear. Cas's eyes widen and a blush creeps up his neck.

"Dean..." Cas starts to say but Dean cuts him off, leaning in and kissing him chastely against the lips.

"It's beautiful," Dean says, running a hand through Cas's hair before kissing him again.

As the sun rises further up in the horizon, Dean and Cas stand in the middle of their secret garden, kissing each other until they are breathless.


End file.
